The Mandela Effect has gone mainstream. Now that the internet is buzzing with wild theories and new examples every day, it's time to go over where the ideas originated, and consider in detail what exactly might be causing it.
Duracell or Energizer bunny?
- Carter Tweed 0 Comments
An epic battle of the bunnies
This is an unusual Mandela Effect in the sense that there is solid evidence for both, yet no-one seems to remember the Duracell bunny which actually came first. In fact it should be remembered much more - for example it was on the kit of the English football club Blackburn Rovers when they won the English Premiership title.
It turns out things got very nasty from a legal point of view when Duracell let the trademark elapse and Energizer picked it up, launching their own very similar version. After running with it for a few years they even ended up launching a trademark against Duracell!
All this serves as background to complicate things for the humble ordinary battery user, who if asked today, and is unaware of this Mass Memory Discrepancy Effect, would remember the Energizer bunny but be surprised to hear there was a Duracell one too.
The Missing 7-Up hyphen
- Carter Tweed 0 Comments
Did the hyphen disappear without anyone noticing?
MMDE: &-Up had a hyphen
Current: 7Up has no hyphen
The famous 7-Up brand seems to have been around forever, but in fact only dates back to 1964. Many people remember the brand having a hyphen in the name, as in "7-Up", rather than the styling we see today with "7Up". Are they experiencing the Mass Memory Discrepancy Effect?
Searches reveal a few examples with the hypen but the argument is that these were created by other people also misremembering the styling and not examples of how it was styled everywhere back then.
The usual problem also exists with branding - these companies realise the value of the mark, and would never tinker with it without a very good reason, and if doing so would also want to benefit from the change itself, of which no record exists.
Janis Joplin
- Cory Grajales 0 Comments
Did she really look like that?
MMDE: Ordinary appearance
Current: Very attractive appearance
Some experiencing the Mass Memory Discrepancy Effect are claiming the images you see today of Janis Joplin are nothing like they way they were back when she was at the height of her career.
Best known for her amazing singing combined with a tragic life of drink and drugs, the images of the day reflected this. She wasn't known as any kind of sex symbol, and certainly not for any nude photos of the kind which have surfaced recently.
Those near to her claim she was often "up and down" with the substances, and so any pictures of her would just catch her as she was on that day, including her weight which is also claimed to show her today very differently to back then. And that's without taking another piece of her heart...
Prince - Let's go crazy
- Simon Magnuson 0 Comments
What are we gathered here for?
MMDE: Dearly beloved - we are gathered here to celebrate this thing called life.
Current: Dearly beloved - we are gathered here to get through this thing called life.
What exactly were the lyrics in the famous Prince song "Let's Go Crazy?"
The point of the song is totally different with this change - one is optimistic and upbeat, the celebration many remember, and the other more pessimistic and downbeat. A few references to "celebrate" exist today, but most including the song are "get through". It all could just be a deliberate play on words, because we all remember being "gathered here to celebrate" weddings, and at funerals "..not to mourn, but celebrate", so this is the impression we have when not paying full attention first time round.
Razzle Dazzle ships
- Carter Tweed 0 Comments
You'd never forget seeing a Razzle Dazzle ship
Sometimes the Mandela Effect can work in reverse. This is where suddenly something appears which no-one can remember, yet by it's nature many people should.
The Razzle Dazzle Ships are a good example, where very distinctive black and white striped camouflage was used on WW1 battleships. Once seen, never forgotten - so why have so few people even heard of them?
Razzle Dazzle was the term given to the camouflage where the intent wasn't to hide the target - that's not possible for a ship - but to obscure it's size and the direction it's travelling in from a distance. The point was to confuse submarines of the day who needed to anticipate the speed and direction of a vessel. The torpedoes had to be fired ahead of the target's position in order to succeed. There were no automatic guidance systems available back then.
Those experiencing the Mass Memory Discrepancy Effect claim a whole batch of images suddenly appeared on the internet, yet no-one can remember these playing any part when it's claimed they did, nor featuring in any historical accounts of naval warfare at the time.
5th character in 'The Young Ones'
- Carter Tweed 0 Comments
Spooky silent extra room mate
Those of a certain age, mainly in the UK, will remember the anarchic "Young Ones" TV show. Sharing the student house were Vyvyan, Rick, Neil and Mike. Right? Well ... perhaps a borderline Mass Memory Discrepancy Effect, but there was actually a 5th character who appeared in every episode of series 1 and wasn't ever credited, had no speaking part and was never involved in any story line.
This could all just be a big in-joke and nothing to do with memories being different - watching it now, it's pretty easy to see how this character could be missed.
Sadly Rick Mayall passed away far too young, but you can just imagine him and the gang having the last laugh at all this fuss, even though they aren't young ones any more...
Lincoln Memorial clenched fist
- Sue Verlander 0 Comments
Was Abe's fist always clenched?
The iconic Lincoln Memorial is instantly recognised the world over. Was Abe resting his left hand over the arm of his chair, or clenching his fist?
Some experiencing the Mass Memory Discrepancy Effect claim it was just like his right hand, resting over the end, and say a clenched fist this way doesn't fit with the feel for how a statue of Lincoln would have been designed.
This isn't the first time a statue has "changed" - see also Moses Horns and The Thinker.
Some references exist, such as drawings etc, which show both hands in the same pose. Then again, nothing in these things was done by accident, and he did abolish slavery...
